BOFF

The project “Climate and air quality impacts of boreal forest fires”, (2023 – 2027) is funded by the Jane and Atos Erkko Foundation.

In this project, we will use a comprehensive approach to define the emission factors (EFs, the grams of a compound emitted per kg of dry biomass burned) for greenhouse gases and relevant aerosol species. We will investigate the mechanisms behind the emissions using field and laboratory measurements. Finally, by utilizing and implementing this new knowledge to global and regional atmospheric models, we will quantify the climate and air quality impact of the smoke emitted by surface fires from boreal forests.

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

1. To reveal the mechanism behind greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions during the fire – how do the changes in combustion conditions (flaming vs. smoldering) affect the emissions?
2. To define emission factors for greenhouse gases and aerosols from surface fires taking place in boreal forests (at the end the data will be valid for the entire Scandinavia, Baltic countries and the European part of Russia).
3. To quantify the climate and air quality impact of smoke emissions from boreal forest fires in
   a warming climate by implementing the observational results (emission factors) to global and regional scale models. The special focus will be on Arctic areas.